I worked for an airline in Los Angeles between 1967 and 1977. During that time all of the changes which exist in airline travel today had their beginnings.

Because of numerous skyjackings the federal government, in concert with the airlines, began a screening process for passengers and their baggage.

This policy of passenger and airline protection literally began overnight in 1973. I arrived at work and was amazed to see ten-foot walls erected in front of the boarding areas. Wackenhut Security was hand searching every carryon bag at three entrances. At the actual boarding area metal detectors were stationed and ‘sky marshals were available with the immediacy of a phone call.

Those of us who worked for the airlines had no fear of terrorism; we were unaware of the term at that time. We were part of a system which sought the end of skyjacking for profit and political manipulation.

We were instructed to ‘profile’ passengers, and mark their boarding passes accordingly. At the top of the list was a non-Caucasian male, traveling alone, between the ages of 25 and 45 and was traveling on a one-way ticket paid for by cash. We took it very seriously.

On one occasion my fellow passenger service agent and I had marked such a boarding pass and notified the sky marshals. As the man passed through the metal detector the alarm rang. The sky marshals took him aside and discovered a loaded gun inside of a hollowed out book. We never experienced another incident.

The policies in place at that time proved to be effective. The TSA policies of today have a 95 percent record of failure, and cost hundreds of millions of dollars.

When I was laid off from my last private sector job in 2008 I was the oldest person in the company. Not long after that fact I applied for the TSA. I had been part of the origination of the program and believed that I had credentials which would allow me to participate in the safety of America’s airline passengers.

I am color blind, and a part of the test which required me to view a screen with colors and shapes eliminated me from consideration, although not all TSA jobs involved looking at monitors for eight hours a day. I should have filed a complaint with the EEOC.

The TSA hiring policies have proven to be totally ineffective and have increased the danger of those who must participate in air travel.

Hundreds of millions of dollars have been spent in attempts to make the TSA more effective. What we had in 1973 was simple, effective, and the cost was less than one-percent of what it is today.

Hiring policies and training have proven to be a complete failure. Our airlines are at a greater risk of terrorist attacks than at any time in our nation’s history. The entire homeland security system is an illusion.

The airlines remain more concerned with profit than with safety. They ignore the possibility of a terrorist attack and display little concern for the safety and comfort of their passengers.

My nearly ten-year experience with the airlines has resulted in one promise to myself and my wife; I will never travel on a commercial airline again. They are inconvenient, uncomfortable, unsafe, and degrading to human comfort and consideration.

Op-Ed

By James Turnage

Photo Courtesy of frankieleon

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